He was dead.
This was the second time.
Back then, I had only felt a sense of emptiness.
The first time, BB had killed him.
There was no process, only the result. Just the result that the man who had tormented me was dead, that he was now gone.
For some reason, I also felt hollow.
Even though the person who tormented me, who had turned my life into the worst kind of hell, was gone. An unexplainable emptiness filled my heart.
The man who, just yesterday, had forced me to drink a beer full of semen despite my protests... the fact that he could disappear so easily. It felt so incredibly hollow.
To think I had suffered for months at the hands of someone who could die so easily.
Nevertheless, I accepted that reality and moved forward. But a lingering regret remained. The thought that he shouldn't have died so easily.
A regret remained.
And now, Sho was resolving that regret for me.
Even though Sho was getting hit and hurt by that bastard, he was fighting back with a desperate expression, pressing the attack.
A desperate fight, with their lives on the line.
Yes, this wasn't about killing him easily or ending it quickly.
Sho, with his own strength, was creating a process for something that had only been a hollow result.
I think I'm going crazy. I can't stand it.
Sho is fighting that man desperately for my sake. He's fighting as a man, risking everything to protect the ones he loves.
He's so, so cool.
My heart is beating so fast, its pounding makes my chest tremble. I'm falling for Sho's manliness all over again, and my womb is throbbing.
Sho committed his first murder.
Ah, but he looks so cool even without a trace of guilt. Of course. He didn't kill a person, he killed a beast. Killing a bastard like that won't tarnish Sho.
Yes. Because one tainted person—me—is enough.
"Sho."
"Ritsuka. It's over. It's finally over."
He leaned against me with a relieved expression. I hugged him. Maybe it was the aftereffects of the fight. Or maybe the fatigue from the sense of accomplishment washed over him all at once, causing him to collapse.
I kissed him on the forehead. Ah, he's just so lovely.
Sho truly is a sinful man.
The luxury of being the only one loved by an entire world (star)... from the past to the future, you're probably the only one who will ever have that.
Ah, my love, my everything.
Let's be together forever.
=========================================
Orleans.
Meanwhile, the Orleans capture team, separated from Sho, was now...
"Impossible, this can't be happening. There's no way I'm weaker than that fake!!!"
They were on the verge of conquering Orleans.
Fafnir had been slain by Siegfried. Not many enemies were left. The only remaining Servants were the Dragon Witch herself, Gilles de Rais, and Lancelot. And Siegfried was currently occupied with fighting Lancelot.
"What the hell are you? Just what are you!!!"
"Now, let's end this."
Jeanne d'Arc. Was there any way the Dragon Witch could defeat her?
She, too, was a saint who had received five Holy Grails from her Master.
They were on completely different levels from the start.
"Don't be ridiculous. Gilles, Gilles!!! Hurry up, kill that fake!!!"
"Ah, my Holy Maiden. I would love to do as you ask, but this is a difficult situation."
Gilles de Rais stood behind the Dragon Witch. He looked at the Dragon Witch with an expression of pity, then turned his gaze to Jeanne.
His fish-like, bulging eyes stared intently at Jeanne.
"Jeanne. Do you truly not resent this France?"
"Marshal-Magus Gilles de Rais. I have never resented my country."
"Why?"
He asked in a serious voice, and she answered by drawing her sword. Seeing the sword, Gilles instinctively understood what it was.
"Why, why!!! Jeanne! Is this France, this world that abandoned you and scorned you as a witch, truly so precious to you!!!"
"That is the way of a hero. To be betrayed by those they trusted, to be betrayed by the very country they fought and died for. But most of them do not hold resentment. Because they were never betrayed by what they truly sought to protect."
"What do you mean?"
"The country I sought to protect was not the Church or the government that branded me a witch. Nor was it the citizens of Paris who threw stones at me. What I, what we, sought to protect was... the happiness of the French people. Because we fought with our lives, France will continue on into the distant future. That is enough. I was not betrayed by the France I sought to protect."
"Jeanne."
"Gilles de Rais. It is a tragedy that you have become this way, no matter how much time passes. That a noble knight such as yourself has fallen to this state... it is likely my responsibility. So, let us end it here. Let us end this chain of hatred now."
Flames erupted from her sword.
Glory to the Lord in heaven.
The great heavens are for the king's works.
By day, the word is spoken; by night, knowledge is revealed.
There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Yet its warm light goes out through all the earth, and its words to the end of the world. From the end of the heavens it rises, and its circuit is to the end of them.
My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned.
My end is here. My fate is here.
The transience of my life is here.
My life is as nothing, I walk as a mere shadow. My bow cannot reach, and even my sword cannot save me. As the only thing that remains, protect the path it takes.
"O Lord, I entrust this body to you."
The sword of Saint Catherine. Jeanne d'Arc's blood dripped onto the holy sword wielded by the saint, and in an instant, a great, flower-bud-like flame spread out from her.
"—La Pucelle— (The Crimson Saint)."
The flames that burned the saint. The flames that turned a holy woman to ash were unleashed. A Noble Phantasm activated at the cost of her own body, it releases flames of immeasurable power that annihilate everything for the sake of those she wishes to save.
"Ah, Jeanne."
Even within the flames, Gilles saw that this was different from the burning at the stake he had not witnessed that day.
It was different from her martyrdom, a meaningless sacrifice born from the stained greed of humanity. Seeing her eyes filled with determination and faith, Gilles closed his eyes.
"If that is your will."
He—his eyes—could see. These flames would not be able to burn the body of Jeanne d'Arc herself.
As if willing to burn, if this was the will of the saint who was his savior and his everything. He dropped his grimoire and was engulfed in the flames. Along with the eldritch sea demons he had summoned and the castle of Orleans, he was incinerated.
"Hah, hah. Did I overdo it?"
And Jeanne, who should have met her end after using La Pucelle.
"Master cast Guts on me just in case before he left, but perhaps I used it too recklessly."
However, Sho, knowing her Noble Phantasm, had granted her Guts just in case. Thanks to that, Jeanne survived with her health completely depleted.
"Even Gilles... dammit. Are you going to kill me now, too!?"
"Kill you? Of course not. I have no intention of killing you. The sins you committed were because Gilles ordered you to. To bless a newborn child. Isn't that the role of an adult?"
Was it because her energy was low and her head was fuzzy? Jeanne started saying something a little strange.
"Master will be here soon, and then your fate will be decided. It would be nice for you to form a contract with Master, but it might also be good to keep you separate. Yes, since there is one other Master."
"W-What are you talking about?"
"As for me, I suppose I'd be happy to have another little sister?"
"What?"
Jeanne approached the Dragon Witch slowly with a strange smile, and for a moment, the ominous illusion of a dolphin seemed to appear behind her.